Brexit chaos leads to 300 per cent spike in live streaming data traffic

The ongoing tussle over the proroguing of Parliament and a no-deal Brexit has led to a huge spike in live streaming data traffic, according to data from Limelight Networks.

On the 3rd September, Limelight saw a 343 per cent increase in live streaming data traffic compared to typical levels. Similarly, on the 4th of September Limelight reported a 75 per cent increase related to simultaneous live streaming of video traffic relating to the parliamentary debates. These spikes coincided with the announcements in Parliament of the results of the votes on the no-deal bill and the attempt to call a snap general election.

Limelight’s content delivery infrastructure is used to accelerate the delivery of video and other content to users.

Commenting on the spike in Brexit live streaming, Steve Miller-Jones, Vice President Product Strategy, Limelight Networks said: “The increased traffic being seen shows that it isn’t just the latest original series or live event that broadcasters need to be prepared for, political affairs also has its water-cooler moments and people want to experience them in real time.

“As more and more news content is consumed digitally, broadcasters must consider how this is delivered to viewers so that service issues don’t become part of the story. We take our role in this very seriously and are pleased that our infrastructure allowed the British public to engage in the debate as it happened.”

Subscribe

For more stories like this, and to keep up to date with all our market leading news, features and analysis, sign up to our newsletter here.